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Full title..What a comeback! Eleven months after the tsunami ravaged Japan, a series of pictures reveals the incredible progress being made to clear up the devastationWhen Japan was hit by both an earthquake and tsunami in quick succession in March last year, the images of devastation gripped the world. And now after 11 months of tireless rebuilding, these pictures reveal the amazing progress made since those tragic events. Photographers returned to the scenes of desolation to take these stunning shots that capture the way in which the areas most severely affected have changed.

BIG Earthquake Strikes Off Of Sumatra (Indonesia) Joe Weisenthal Jan. 10, 2012, 1:49 PM Just reported by the USGS. A big 7.3 earthquake off the cost of Northern Sumatra. Here's the map. The full details from the USGS are here. According to Reuters, the Indonesian government has issued a tsunami warning.(snip)

I have always been curious about the lack of documented evidence for a tsunami ever occuring on my home coast of North Carolina. Some of the largest undersea land slides on earth have been documented off our wonderful Outer Banks, and earthquakes are not completely unknown in the Carolinas. Both cause big waves. And more to point for the Tusk, some very credible work has documented cosmically-induced tsunami in the New York and Hudson Valley region, not far away from NC in a regional sense.

Another Asian Fukushima Imminent? Taiwan imports 99 percent of its energy, which is vital to its rapidly industrializing economy. The island nation's electricity demand was recently growing at almost 5 percent per year, but this is slowing to about 3.3 percent per annum to 2013. Nuclear power has been a significant part of the electricity supply for two decades and now provides 17 percent of the country's overall energy needs. But this has come at a potential cost. The country's three nuclear power plants (NPPs) comprise four General Electric boiling water reactors and two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. Taiwan launched its nuclear power project...

In the days following the Great East Japan Earthquake the United States Armed Forces mobilized to aid Japan’s disaster relief efforts and launched ‘Operation Tomodachi’ (lit: Operation Friend). It has since become a large scale operation with the United States committing roughly 20,000 personnel, 20 ships and 160 aircraft to date. Efforts so far have included distributing supplies to the disaster area, searching for missing persons off the Sanriku Coast, cleaning up rubble and debris, and restoring a landing strip at the disaster-struck Sendai Airport. The United States also provided a specialized unmanned aircraft to photograph the area around the...

Previously unseen footage taken from a car's onboard camera has been recovered, and shows the moment the Japanese tsunami hits a busy highway and the ensuing chaos that follows.

First debris from Japanese earthquake/tsunami reaches Olympic Peninsula By Arwyn Rice  Peninsula Daily News    Oceanographer Jim Ingraham answers questions about the islands of debris from the March 11 Japan tsunami that are slowly floating toward the Pacific Northwest. Behind him is a float, found east of Neah Bay, that is believed to be the first identified piece of wreckage to arrive via ocean currents. -- Photo by Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News  PORT ANGELES — The first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami in Japan —...

SENTAKU MAGAZINE Real cause of nuclear crisis Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), the operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Station, has been insisting that the culprit that caused the nuclear crisis was the huge tsunami that hit the plant after the March 11 earthquake. But evidence is mounting that the meltdown at the nuclear power plant was actually caused by the earthquake itself. According to a science journalist well versed in the matter, Tepco is afraid that if the earthquake were to be determined as the direct cause of the accident, the government would have to review...

Check Out This Volcano Erupting Underwater Near Spain's Canary Islands Nick Jardine Nov. 8, 2011, 9:00 PM Image: Presidencia del Gobierno de Canarias via Flickr This weekend the Spanish government ordered residents on El Hierro Island in the Canary Islands to abandon their homes. The reason? A big volcano, just 70 meters from the surface of the water. Increased volcanic and seismic activity has forced residents out. Since July the volcano has spewed out gas, lava and sulfur into the ocean turning the ocean into a volcanic jacuzzi. Have a look at some more photos of the eruption. Click here...

Radiation fears behind debris refusals / Remaining refuse may cause secondary damage, hinder reconstruction efforts The Yomiuri Shimbun The start Wednesday of shipments of debris from the Great East Japan Earthquake to Tokyo, the first destination for such refuse outside the Tohoku region, was a long-awaited first step toward wider disposal of the wreckage. However, an Environment Ministry survey released Wednesday showed that only 54 local governments and garbage-disposal unions, less than 10 percent the figure in a previous survey, were considering accepting debris from disaster-hit areas. A huge quantity of debris remains in the devastated areas almost eight months...

Report on the finding of Xenon inside the contention building of #2 reactor, and the general state of this reactor: Press Release (Nov 04,2011) Report to Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry with regards to the detection of Xe135 at Unit 2 of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Report regarding the levels of Plutonium, Strontium, Cesium and Iodine in seawater (open seas): Press Release (Nov 04,2011) Detection of Radioactive Materials from Seawater near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (217th release) Report on the detection of Plutonium, Strontium and other radiactive materials on...

TOKYO (AP) -- Last Sunday was the six-month anniversary of the day the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coast. Some 20,000 people are dead or missing. More than 800,000 homes were completely or partially destroyed. The disaster crippled businesses, roads and infrastructure. The Japanese Red Cross Society estimates that 400,000 people were displaced. Half a year later, there are physical signs of progress. Much of the debris has been cleared away or at least organized into big piles. In the port city of Kesennuma, many of the boats carried inland by the tsunami have been removed. Most evacuees...

Floating Japanese Boat Picked Up near Midway Islands Los Angeles, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese fishing boat and other apparent tsunami debris have been found floating near the Midway Islands, northwest of Hawaii, a research center said Friday. The boat of about six meters long was found among an array of debris such as home appliances about 3,200 kilometers away from Japan on Sept. 22, about six months after the disaster, according to the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center. The boat, picked up by a Russian ship while in training, had a Japanese word reading Fukushima written on...

March disaster debris may reach Hawaii next year US researchers say some of the huge amount of debris that has been drifting in the Pacific Ocean as a result of Japan's disaster in March may reach Hawaii next year. Nikolai Maximenko, senior researcher at the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center, says a huge amount of debris was spotted by a Russian training ship heading for Vladivostok from Hawaii in late September. The debris was found in a wide area in the northern Pacific Ocean about 3,200 kilometers east of Japan and about 900 kilometers west of the Midway...

<p>STANFORD, California (CNN) -- In an event known as a "silent earthquake," a 72-square-mile chunk of the south slope of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano slipped 3.5 inches toward the sea several months ago, leading one scientist to warn of a possible disaster for Pacific Rim nations.</p>

New research indicates that one of the largest fresh-water floods in Earth's history happened about 17,000 years ago and inundated a large area of Alaska that is now occupied in part by the city of Wasilla, widely known because of the 2008 presidential campaign. The event was one of at least four "megafloods" as Glacial Lake Atna breached ice dams and discharged water. The lake covered more than 3,500 square miles in the Copper River Basin northeast of Anchorage and Wasilla. The megaflood that covered the Wasilla region released as much as 1,400 cubic kilometers, or 336 cubic miles, of...

Quick background: I found this while searching for events that happened on September 9 (we just had 09/09/09). A Web site mistakenly lists this disaster as happening on September 9, 1963; actually it happened October 9, 1963. Hadn't heard of it before, but it's listed as one of the top engineering disasters in history. The Vajont (Vaiont) Landslide The site linked in the header provides small snapshots of the whole area. Two examples: Here's an annotated picture that helps put it in context. Here's a picture of the immediate aftermath: To really get this in perspective, though, use Google Maps....

According to the "Annals of the Four Masters" the island was once called Fitha Island and it formed part of the mainland until the day "the sea swelled so high that it burst its boundaries, overflowing a large tract of country, and drowning over 1,000 persons." This happened on March 16th, 804. Some reports describe it as an earthquake, others as a tidal wave when "the sea divided the island of Fitha into three parts." These three islands are Mutton Island, Inismattle (or Illanwattle) and Roanshee (or Carrig na Ron). There is a fourth island in the area called Carraig...

Olympia, the Sanctuary of Zeus and venue of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, was probably destroyed by tsunamis that reached far inland, and not as previously believed, by earthquakes and river flooding... Paläotsunamis that have taken place over the last 11,000 years along the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean. The Olympic-tsunami hypothesis has been put forward due to sediments found in the vicinity of Olympia, which were buried under an 8 metres thick layer of sand and other debris, and only rediscovered around 250 years ago. "The composition and thickness of the sediments we have found, do not fit...

Professor Andreas Vött presents new results of geomorphological and geoarcheological investigations on the sedimentary burial of OlympiaOlympia, site of the famous Temple of Zeus and original venue of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, was presumably destroyed by repeated tsunamis that travelled considerable distances inland, and not by earthquake and river floods as has been assumed to date. Evidence in support of this new theory on the virtual disappearance of the ancient cult site on the Peloponnesian peninsula comes from Professor Dr Andreas Vött of the Institute of Geography of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. Vött investigated the site as...

Friday, 7 September, 2001, 18:28 GMT 19:28 UK Giant wave hit ancient Scotland By BBC News Online's Helen Briggs A giant wave flooded Scotland about 7,000 years ago, a scientist revealed on Friday. The tsunami left a trail of destruction along what is now the eastern coast of the country. It looks as if those people were happily sitting in their camp when this wave from the sea hit the camp Professor David Smith, Coventry University Scientists believe a landslide on the ocean floor off Storegga, south-west Norway, triggered the wave. Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science in ...

Last Updated: Friday, 20 April 2007, 08:05 GMT 09:05 UK The wave that destroyed Atlantis By Harvey Lilley BBC Timewatch The legend of Atlantis, the country that disappeared under the sea, may be more than just a myth. Research on the Greek island of Crete suggests Europe's earliest civilisation was destroyed by a giant tsunami. Video reconstruction of the tsunami Until about 3,500 years ago, a spectacular ancient civilisation was flourishing in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ancient Minoans were building palaces, paved streets and sewers, while most Europeans were still living in primitive huts. But around 1500BC the people who...

09/29/2011 She's Gonna Blow Canary Island Evacuated Amid Volcano Fears Natural DisastersRSS 09/29/2011 She's Gonna Blow Canary Island Evacuated Amid Volcano Fears Photo Gallery: El Hierro Rumbles Photos DPA Worries of a potential volcanic eruption have prompted Spanish authorities to evacuate residents and tourists on one of the Canary Islands. Thousands of tiny tremors have recently intensified, with the biggest one reaching a magnitude of 3.4, they said. The seismic activity indicates magma on the move. Info Thousands of tiny earthquakes have rattled the island of El Hierro since this July. But recently the tremors have grown stronger, prompting concern...

'Mini-Ark' invented for tsunamis apanese inventors have come up with a novel way for residents to save themselves if the country is struck by another deadly tsunami: a mini Ark that looks like a giant tennis ball. Cosmo Power says it already has orders for 600 of its "Noah" shelters, which have a small lookout window and breathing holes on top, and sell for $4000 each.

This chart shows the accumulated earthquake energy since about early August around El Hierro in the Canary Islands. This is the volcano group that can generate a 150 foot tall tsunami on the east coast under certain circumstances. Heads up!

Highest indoor radiation level detected at Fukushima Daiichi plant TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Radiation dosages of 5 sieverts per hour were detected indoors on the second floor of the No. 1 reactor at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Tuesday, the highest figure yet indoors, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The figure was detected in front of a pipe in an air-conditioning machine room, the utility said, adding the dosage may be larger than the measured amount as it exceeds the capacity of measuring equipment. Radioactive substances are considered to be staying in the pipe after they...

The volcanic activity, principally at the convergence of the three ridges, resulted in the continual expansion of the island. A mere 50,000 years ago, as a result of seismic tremors which produced massive landslides, a giant piece of the island cracked off, crashed down into the ocean and scattered along the seabed. This landslide of more than 300km3 gave rise to the impressive amphitheatre of the El Golfo valley and at the same time caused a tsunami that most likely rose over 100 metres high and probably reached as far as the American coast.

Japan beat the US, taking the Women’s World Cup soccer championship in a penalty shoot-out Sunday night in Germany, a victory that is being savored back home where good news has been in short supply. After coming from behind twice, Japan finally got a win against the US – on their 26th attempt. Japan beat the US on penalty kicks 3-1 after the final ended 2-2. The match was full of the kind of open attacking football that has been conspicuous by its absence in recent men’s World Cup finals. Japanese fans who woke up early, or stayed up late...

Tsunami airglow signature could lead to early detection system Researchers at the University of Illinois have become the first to record an airglow signature in the upper atmosphere produced by a tsunami using a camera system based in Hawaii. It preceded the tsunami by one hour, suggesting that the technology could be used as an early-warning system in the future.

It was a pretty good shake in the Tokyo area. Centered up in the Tohoku region where the March 11 quake and wave occurred. I think initially it is a Japanese shindo 4 (Magnitude 7.1 has now been stated).Not as powerful as March quake, but perhaps just as long in duration. Heads up. The predictions of a tsunami are only at around 50 centimeters high (at this point at least).

WELLINGTON—New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management issued a marine threat for the country's North Island after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck in the Kermadec Islands region in the southern Pacific Ocean early Thursday morning New Zealand time. "Confirmation been received that a tsunami was generated," the Ministry of Civil Defense said. It said a marine threat for Northland, Bay of Plenty, East Coast and Hawkes Bay had been identified. All are located on New Zealand's North Island. The ministry said the first wave would arrive in New Zealand round 8:52 a.m. local time. "

Just reported on FOX

A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, triggering a tsunami in the region, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center said on Wednesday. The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.9, triggered a tsunami warning for New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands and Tonga, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center said. "Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated. This tsunami may have been destructive along coastlines of the region near the earthquake epicenter," the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center said in its warning. It struck at 7:03 a.m. on Thursday (1903 GMT on Wednesday)...

UPDATE 3-Japan could face a third "lost" decade-Moody's Mon, Jun 27 2011 * Moody's sees quick economic rebound from disaster * But says Japan may be facing a third "lost" decade * Moody's has highest rating on Japan versus S&P, Fitch * Moody's to decide on ratings by end August (Adds details) By Edwina Gibbs and Stanley White TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japan could face a third "lost" decade of sluggish economic growth that will leave it struggling to whittle down the heaviest debt burden among developed nations, Moody's ratings agency said on Monday. It chided the government's failure...

Complete title: Tsunami warning is in effect for coastal Alaska after 7.4-magnitude earthquake hits in the Pacific Ocean ### ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 7.4 earthquake has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean off Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands. The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says a tsunami warning has been posted for certain coastal areas of Alaska. That warning covers an area from 80 miles (128 kilometers) northeast of Dutch Harbor to about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Adak.

Suicides upping casualties from Tohoku catastrophe By ROB GILHOOLY Special to The Japan Times Yamada, Iwate Pref. — On June 11, a dairy farmer in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, chalked a note on the wall of his cattle shed. "If only there wasn't a nuclear power plant," the message read, in reference to the damaged Fukushima No. 1 plant just 45 km away, which had effectively ended his livelihood. The man already had culled his livestock after raw milk shipments from the area where he lived had been stopped. Now, he chose to end his own life, too. "I have lost...

An international team of geoscientists has discovered an unusual geological formation that helps explain how an undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004 spawned the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. Instead of the usual weak, loose sediments typically found above the type of geologic fault that caused the earthquake, the team found a thick plateau of hard, compacted sediments. Once the fault snapped, the rupture was able to spread from tens of kilometers below the seafloor to just a few kilometers below the seafloor, much farther than weak sediments would have permitted. The extra distance allowed it...

DEVELOPING: A tsunami advisory was issued for part of Japan's northeast coast after a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck offshore Thursday morning local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/22/strong-earthquake-prompts-tsunami-advisory-in-japan-490182043/#ixzz1Q39UZFrf

A comparative look at Japan’s topography.

An NHK survey of municipalities affected by the March 11th disasters has found more than 60 percent of them see little or no prospect of reconstruction. The mayors of 42 cities, towns and villages in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima responded to the survey. 6 mayors, including those of Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture and Fukushima's Namie Town said there is no prospect of reconstruction. Another 20 municipal heads said there is little prospect of reconstruction. Whereas 80 percent of municipalities said they are seeing progress in building temporary housing and in restoring utilities, 90 percent said there was still no...

Talk about a sacrifice that will warm your heart. A group of older Japanese folks are asking for permission to clean up the contaminated nuclear power station in Fukushima. More than 200 retirees are volunteering to take the place of young people who are exposing themselves to high levels of radiation. The group figures they have less than 20 years to live and will be dead before any radiation induced cancer develops. It's a different story for the young people who have battled in this war zone for three months and are at great risk for developing cancer as they...

Earthquake, not tsunami, may have damaged cooling system at No. 3 reactor 2011/05/26 Data from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant indicates that the March 11 earthquake--not the tsunami--damaged piping for the emergency core cooling system at the No. 3 reactor, leading to a meltdown, experts said. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, has insisted that a tsunami far exceeding expectations led to the accident at the plant, and that shaking from the magnitude-9.0 earthquake did not cause serious damage to crucial equipment. Junichi Matsumoto, a TEPCO official, told a news conference on May 24 that the piping...

And that is the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's Tohoku region very hard. As of May 13, more than 15,000 people have been killed, 9,506 are still missing, and about 115,500 are still living in 2,425 evacuation shelters, according to the National Police Agency. After more than 2 months since the quake and tsunami, the disaster-hit areas look almost the same as on March 11 after the tsunami. There are many areas still without power and water, and at some shelters the lack of food and water is chronic. At a shelter in Minami...

Great disaster prompts more women to seek marriage 2011/05/15 A growing number of singles, particularly women in urban areas, are scrambling to find marriage partners after the country's worst natural disaster in postwar years has forced them to think about their lifestyles and the future. "I am more worried about my future and now realize how important it is to have a family," a 30-year-old female company employee in Tokyo said. "I want to form a bond with others." The woman said her experiences after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake spurred her to rethink her lifestyle. It took...

The huge sea wall and floodgates took 12 years to build and had been widely regarded as a £20million folly. But today one former Japanese mayor is being hailed as a saviour after the grandiose construction allowed his small town escaped the devastation wrought by the March 11 tsunami. In the rubble of Japan's northeast coast, Fudai stands as tall as ever after. No homes were swept away. In fact, they barely got wet. The 3,000 residents owe their lives to the late Kotaku Wamura, who lived through an earlier tsunami and made it a priority of his four-decade tenure...

A new survey finds privacy and hygiene issues among the top concerns of Japanese earthquake survivors two months after the March 11 disaster that smashed the nation's northeastern coast. They say lack of information is also a problem. National NHK television marked the two-month anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami on Wednesday by reporting the findings from interviews with more than 400 survivors at temporary shelters and other locations. About 120,000 people are still housed in temporary shelters. Asked what bothers them most, 38 percent of those interviewed cited a lack of privacy.

More than 130,000 people have volunteered their time and energy to help with disaster relief in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures since the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. During the Golden Week holidays, the average number of volunteers working in the areas each day will likely triple to around 8,000, the survey showed. Offers of help have been so numerous that some local governments have decided to temporarily stop accepting volunteers--partly because they were not prepared to handle the flood of people expected during the holiday period and also to prevent overcrowding and...

In politics, what you're really doing is often much less important than what it looks like you're really doing. And with only 560 days left until the voters' next verdict, President Obama is rapidly painting himself into a public-relations corner with an ongoing series of possibly accidental gaffes that are accumulating in the public mind. And the biting humor repertoire of late-night comics: "Donald Trump says he's President Obama's worst nightmare," Jay Leno said last night. "No. Having to make a decision is President Obama's worst nightmare." The former state senator may, in fact, be slaving away on 18-hour policy...

What is the effect on the Earth, currently swept into the arms of Planet X periodically by the Sweeping Arms of the Sun, when more planets crowd up to the stop sign, and halt, due to the massive Repulsion Force issues presented by Planet X standing before them. Planet X is 23 times as massive, this mass not reflected in the mere diameter of this interloper, which is only 4 times as broad as Venus or Earth or the Earth’s Dark Twin, all of which are approximately the same size. The Sweeping Arms normally just propel the planets in the...

"Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations.It's real, and that's the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that's why this is so important." [Secretary of Defense William Cohen at an April 1997 counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Senator Sam Nunn. Quoted from DoD News Briefing, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Q&A at the...